I just want some advice to see if my motor is running properly.
First off, On a cold start there is some light tapping coming from the top of the motor and quiets down once the bike warms up, once it completely warms up it idles smooth and quiet i think this is ok?
Next up i think i may be running a little lean. Motor/Carb is completely stock (De-Smogged) exhuast is Yoshimura RS-2 Slip on. Power is fine around town, on the highway the bike struggles to get above 75 (No wind, Temp in the 70s, Level ground I am 6 foot 2 weigh 210).

Bike is a 09 KLX250SF 13K miles (valve adjustment done by kawi dealer around 10K)

I know dissasembling the carb on these to richen it up is a bit of a pain but i have plenty of experience changing jets out on 2 stroke carbs (banshees).

Here are some spark plug pics to diagnose the a/f ratio.
Spark plug is new (CR8E) with about 100 miles on it of 90% around town commuting 10% highway

 

With your exhaust, you need to reject. Looks like you're running a little lean from your pics

 

OK, what exactly would be the process for rejetting? (do i have to buy a kit or just make some adjustments to the carb)

 

Yep, a little tap while cold is completely normal. Mine does it too.

Running some Rotella 15w-40 will quiet it down a little bit, but running kawi 10w-40 it is a bit noisy.

Is it cutting out at high rpm's or under a big load? That is a sign that you are lean.

 

I run Mobil 1 4T 10w-40 Motorcycle oil. I thought Shell Rotella oils are for trucks/diesels? It does not cut out at all it just seems like it doesnt have enough power once speeds go above 70

 

Carbs is carbs, 2 or 4 stroke you would jet it the same.

 

Nope, its just "heavy duty" oil that happens to have most of its market share in the truck/diesel/heavy equipment market.

Been running it exclusively in both my Ninja and KLX for as long a i can remember. It is JASO MA cerfified as are all the "motorcycle" oils.

Good stuff.

 

Would it be ok to go to 20-40 or even 20-50? (I live in Hollywood so temps are between 60-100 year round)
Any recommendations as to what to do to richen up the a/f for my situation?

 

20-40 or 20-50 is fine for california...

...from the klx250s/sf manual...

 

A water cooled engine like our KLX does not need and probably does not benefit from a heavier oil than the recommended 10-40. 20-50 in particular is almost always an air cooled engine oil or in some cases a water cooled race engine designed for racing conditions only. Our engine probably needs the 10W end of the spectrum for any cold starts regardless of the ambient temperature. Don't underestimate the ability of today's quality oils. Heavy vicosity oils is an old school concept for the most part. Heck, my '12 Dodge Hemi 5.7 engine with over 400 horsepower uses 5W-20 oil, and if you try to run something heavier, the valve train doesn't like it. Sometimes engineers actually know what oil to recommend and use in their machines.